


Golden Seas

by Ladycarathis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dragons, Ereri Secret Santa, Fantasy AU, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pirates, Royals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-08 22:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5515808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladycarathis/pseuds/Ladycarathis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>His braids jingled, having loosened from being wrapped around his neck and his eyes narrowed at the man. Of course, he didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he hadn't been the one to run into someone.<br/>“Watch it yourself! You ran into me just now, not the other way round!”<br/>By now, a few people standing around where watching the small dispute and a murmur went through them when they recognized the young man with the braids as the one the royal army had been looking for. Sometimes a group of soldiers still came by their little city, asking around if someone might have seen him. And now he was here, standing right before them.<br/>The man glared at Eren and he was about to give an angry retort but then he noticed the braids. <br/>“You're the one the soldiers were asking about!” he exclaimed loudly, pointing at Eren.<em></em></em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my secret santa gift for the wonderful [Monsoon](http://monsoondownpour.tumblr.com/)!  
> I really hope she'll like it!  
> This is only the first part, and part 2 and 3 will be _A LOT_ longer than this, but I didn't manage to finish those, so I'll keep working on them and post them when they're ready.  
>  Also, this is unbetad, so you're likely to find a few mistakes here and there.

 

“Hey, give that back!”

“Oh no, I don't think so!” the man laughed.

The boy struggled against the guards holding him in place, while their leader pulled the leather strap from the boy's neck.

“You have no right! Give it back!” he hissed again, trying to wiggle out of the strong hold the others had on him.

“And why would I do that? A street rat like you doesn't need something like this.” the man let the necklace dangle in front of the boy's face.

Golden eyes followed the key swinging back and forth in front of his face, temporarily fixated on the shiny metal, before the boy started to struggle again with renewed vigour. It didn't help him much. The guards were too strong.

“That is mine! You can't have it!”

“But I have it already. And I don't think I'll be giving it back!” the man caught the dangling key in his hand and then put the leather cord around his own neck.

The boy screamed, furious. A wave of power washed through him, so strong, so feral, so impossible to hold back that for a moment, he ceased his movements completely, basking in the strength surging through his entire body. The guards, taken off guard by the scream, loosened their grasp on the boy. When that little detail registered in the boy's mind, his golden eyes gleamed, and had it not been in the middle of the night the men would have noticed his pupils turn to slits, but this way they were left clueless as to why the boy pulled them with him when he jumped forward, before he ripped free of their hold. He lunged at their leader.

The man looked taken aback, spooked, even. Just in time he made a step backwards, out of the boy's reach. The boy roared, trying again when he realized he had missed the man. The guards scrambled to catch him again, to hold him back, but to no avail.

Their leader turned on his heels and ran. He figured that if he wanted to keep his loot, he would need to get away from the boy. Why was that street rat so fixated on the damn key, anyway?

There were the sounds of running feet behind him. Some surely belonged to his men, but there was a faster, lighter pair of running feet, closer than the heavy footfalls of his men. The boy. He was right on his heels, and when he dared to look back, he saw golden eyes gleaming in the night, just a few steps behind him. Almost within reach. The man sped up, one hand gripping the acquired treasure around his neck tightly. He would not loose it now that he had it.

“Stop!” the boy growled, and to the man it seemed like he was speaking right into his ear.

Slowly it registered in his mind that this boy wasn't a normal boy. Couldn't be a normal boy. The man was a fast runner, and even in his metal uniform he was faster than most of his fellow guards without it. So how could it be a street rat like that boy could catch up to him on bare feet when they were running through shallow alleys, dirtied with excrements, spilled liquors and broken bottles? He should have lost his footing long ago!

Needless to say, the man didn't stop. If anything, he tried to run even faster. Sure, the boy didn't have to carry the weight of heavy metal armour like he did, but he was still too fast. By now they had lost his men somewhere behind them in the labyrinth of alleys and he couldn't hear them anymore. He pushed his body to its limits, picking up even more speed to get away from the boy with the golden eyes. He needed to get away from him. Now. His chance came to him in the form of an abandoned mule cart; he jumped onto the small carriage and snapped the reigns. The boy's angry shouts were soon droned out by the loud rattle of the cart on the cobblestones and he was sure he would never see the boy again.

-

Eren was furious. His key had been stolen by one of the guards patrolling through the street he had chosen to sleep in. They found it funny how a boy -pah, boy! He was 19, alright?!- could sleep in the dirt like he did, they kicked him awake and ripped apart his few belongings, searched for anything valuable they could take as 'payment' for letting him be and not throw him into prison, since him being a street rat meant that surely he had stolen stuff more times than he could count on both hands and feet. Well, they weren't wrong with that, but it wouldn't have hurt them to treat him with a little decency and respect. He was just as human as them!

Needless to say, he had resisted the treatment, their leader had noticed his necklace and found it would suffice as payment.

They could have taken anything from him and he wouldn't have said a word. Anything but the key, that is. It was the last thing he owned that reminded him of his dead mother. She had given it to him when he had still been a snot-nosed little brat and said he should always keep it safe and that some day it might take him to his father. Now, Eren didn't exactly want to know who his father might be, but he didn't want to loose the one thing that held so many memories of his past.

So he fought those men, fought and screamed and ran after them until he realized that he had lost he cart somewhere in the labyrinth of dingy alleys that was the old town's district.

Gone.

His key was gone. And with it any trace of the man who stole it from him.

He spent the next few weeks trying to find that particular guard. He wanted the key back. He knew it wasn't valuable. The only value it held was of the emotional kind. It wouldn't be of any use to the guard -he couldn't even make money out of the damn thing by selling it!

It took him forever to find the man, and when he did, he was drunkenly staggering along a narrow alley, not even wearing his armour. Perfect for Eren to corner him. He sneaked up behind the intoxicated guard and then, when he was right behind him, swiftly whirled him around and pressed him against a dingy wall. Almost frantically the fingers of his free hand probed around the man's neck, hoping to find the still familiar feel of the leather cord there.

Nothing.

Eren hissed, then growled, pupils turning to slits once again.

“Where. Is. It?”

The man was still trying to get his bearings, blearily blinking at Eren and not comprehending what the boy wanted from him. He knew the face was vaguely familiar and that he should probably run, but he was trapped in the boy's gaze.

“W-what?” the man tried to find out what his assaulter wanted from him.

“The key! Where is it?!” Eren growled again, this time shaking the man by his collar.

The man laughed then. Eren wasn't sure if he was being laughed at or if the man was laughing at the ridiculousness of his situation or if he just found his sorry predicament that funny. In the end, he didn't care though. He wanted his key. And he would get it back!

“Answer me!”

Th man shook his head. “I don't know.”

“WHAT?!” the boy roared, louder than should be possible for a human, and the man cowered before him.

“I-I don' know! L-lostit! In a bet!” he scrambled to explain, words swimming together thanks to the cheap alcohol he had consumed.

Eren growled. This couldn't be true! No! Not when he just found the man! He couldn't have lost the key forever! Letting go of the lousy guardsman, he ran a hand through his messy, almost shoulder length hair and then pulled on the two thin braids that hung over his left shoulder, all the way down to his hips. They jingled a little, small bells and shiny and shimmery beads woven into them, and he hadn't cut them since his mother died. She had been the one to first braid them into his hair and he kept them ever since.

“Lost it to whom?!” he boomed then, having made up his mind.

The guard flinched, shook his head. “Dunno. Lad wasn' from 'ere. Scary, an' small...”

Eren narrowed his eyes at that vague description. That could be anyone. He needed more.

“Where did you bet? What did he look like?”

“The -the harbour. Short, with dark hair. Had scary eyes.”

Eren nodded. “Anything else you can tell me about the guy?” he pressed, but the man just shook his head, sinking down on the dirty cobblestones.

“When did you lose it?”

The man shook his head weakly. He couldn't remember.

Another growl left Eren's throat and for a moment, he just glared at the drunk man before he turned away, down the way he had come.

He didn't have much to go off on, and the harbour meant that the man had probably lost his key to a sailor, or, even worse; a pirate. His key would be lost. Gone forever, never to be found again. He didn't even know how long ago the guardsman had lost the key. It could have been days, if not even weeks!

-

Searching the harbour proved to be a wild-goose chase. Asking around didn't exactly help and the people who thought they had seen someone fitting his rather vague description all differed in when and where they had seen him. Eren was sure they were referring to several different people. Not that it really mattered, given that he couldn't tell them much either way. One thing seemed to be sure though; the man was no longer in the city. His ship must have set sail a while ago, since all sightings of someone even remotely fitting the description had been weeks ago.

And Eren had no way of learning which ships had anchored here during all the time. They were simply too many. That, and he had never really learned how to read and write. What little his mother had taught him was long lost on him. It wasn't a skill he needed for his day-to-day survival and so had neglected it.

Eren was torn. He knew there was still a way for him to find his key, but first he needed to find out on what ship the guy who now 'owned' his key had sailed and where he could be now. And once he knew, he would need to make a decision. A decision his mother had beat into his thick skull not to underestimate, if he ever came into the predicament of needing to choose. The royal army would be hunting him down the second they learned of his existence, though, so he had to question himself if his key would really be worth a life on the run. He knew he could be lucky the guards from back then hadn't caught up on what he was. If they had, they'd already be on his ass, he was sure of that. Of course, he could always just wait until that stranger's ship came back to the city, but who was to say the short guy would still be aboard it by then?

He pulled his braids in frustration, a habit he had developed early on since he got them. It helped him redirect his anger so he wouldn't hit something -or someone- when it could be avoided. People often gave him odd looks for his braids and he knew they were a dead give-away for anyone looking for him, but really, he didn't care. He could take care of himself just fine most of the time, despite what some of his friends liked to believe.

Speaking of... Maybe they could help him find out which ship the guy had been on. Decision made, he turned on his heels to make his way to their usual hangout spot in the old town's district. The poor folk lived there, people like him who didn't own anything but the clothes they were wearing, who worked themselves into an early grave for nothing but the happiness of the royals.

-

Finding the ship had been harder than Eren had anticipated, since they had so little to go off on.

In the end Armin was the one who found it. It was a pirate ship, and the short man its captain. He and his crew seemed to be well-known, but no one dared to actually say the ship's name, much less the captain's, for fear it might bring them bad luck. Once they knew what to look for, they quickly determined the route the ship most likely would've taken from their city and where it could be now.

His friends had wanted to go with him, but none of them had the means to pay for the journey, and Eren hadn't planned to go after his key by ship anyway. This was a detail his friends didn't know, and he planned to keep it that way.

So when the day of his departure came, he sneaked away in the hours before dawn, when most of the city's people were still deep asleep and only a few rats were awake, searching the littered streets for anything edible. Eren made his way quietly through the streets, skirting around patrolling guards and the drunk patrons of Inn's and whorehouses. The city was eerily quiet during this hours and Eren's braids jingle made for a slightly uneasy sound underlying it all. It didn't bother Eren, though. He made his way slowly but surely to the harbour, from where he planned to depart. The pier was already filled with busy workers, sailors, fishers and vendors, and the cries of seagulls penetrated the air, but Eren spared all the hubbub not even a glance.

Standing at the end of the pier, he turned and let his golden eyes gaze over the city one last time, before he turned away, his form already shifting with his powers. He hadn't used them in so long, it felt strange to him to use them now. But he forced the feeling down and concentrated on the form he wished to become. Seconds later, a huge dragon perched on the pier where Eren stood before, his scales a molten gold, just like his eyes, his wings outstretched to both sides and the tail swishing back and forth in impatience.

The people on the pier who took notice of the dragon stopped dead in their tracks, gaping at the creature, and soon the whole harbour seemed to be quietly watching the dragon, except for the seagulls, whose screams were as loud and incessant as ever. No one knew how to react to a dragon suddenly sitting on the pier, much less what to do about it. Approaching it was out of the question -they had heard about the dragons, that they were of royal descent and weren't to be bothered when seen, but everyone wondered how it had gotten here. Surely they would have noticed a royal making their way down the pier?

Then the dragon beat his wings once, twice, and lifted its large body into the air. It seemed to hover above the harbour for a moment, then, with a few more powerful beats of its wings, it took off to the east, into the slowly rising sun.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm, wow. So, after an age of absence and agonizing over this, have the long awaited second part of my Secret Santa gift for the wonderful [Monsoon](http://monsoondownpour.tumblr.com/).  
> I know I took forever, but as some of you already know, this had very specific reasons and part three will most likely take just as long, if not even longer to be posted. Sorry in advance for that QAQ  
> Maybe I should mention that this is _unbeta-d_ , so any and all mistakes are solely on me!

\- Hunt -

Eren flew for most of the day along the coast line, just above the clouds so he would be out of sight, and even though he was tired and his wings hurt from the labour of having to carry him all day, he did not stop until it was well into the night. When he finally did land in a little clearing, far away from any human settlement, he fell asleep almost immediately. He didn't even shift back to his human form and instead just curled up at the edge of the clearing in his dragon body.

This became a routine during the next few days. He would fly until the night had fallen once again, find a clearing or a cave well away from any humans to rest, and then rinse and repeat. He knew he made progress, for after about two weeks of travel the landscape beneath him changed, as did the weather. It became warmer, the air denser and new scents tickled his nose. And though he tried to stay away from the settlements, at one point he couldn't stay away any longer. Come night, he decided on a clearing much closer to human civilization, so that in the morning he could make his way there and see and experience this new culture for the first time.

Strange smells and sounds greeted him once he set foot to the city, and he eyed everything new to him with barely veiled interest. Here and there he managed to nick a few curious looking fruits from unsuspecting vendors, stashing them in his wide clothes for later. Some people gave him funny looks, but Eren didn't care. He made his way through the city, keeping eyes and ears open for any guards and and rumours going around about the pirate ship he was after. Had it made port in the city, and if yes, when had that been? How long had it stayed and where was it headed next? He learned nothing, though, and the people didn't seem to keen on answering questions from a stranger like him, either.

He did, however, catch another rumour. It made him smile a secretive smile when he heard it, and for now he was content that it would be dismissed soon enough, for there was no proof of it to be true. Just now, he heard people talking about him again.

“Have you heard? It's said there's been a dragon sighting in Shinganshina a few weeks ago! I wonder what a royal could want in that rotten city!” an old man said to a vendor he was attempting to buy something from.

“Nonsense! The dragon clan hasn't left the capital since before either of us was born! There's no way that rumour is true!”

“I don't know. It _could_ be true. Surely our good king Reiss wouldn't let us common folk know when he sends out one of the dragons.”

“True. What would a dragon want in Shinganshina, though?” the vendor wanted to know, and the old man only shrugged.

“How would I know? I'm just an old fool. I would never attempt to know the secrets and plans of the royals.”

Eren, who had silently hung around the stand, now made his way away from them. He had heard enough. Apparently the people here didn't put too much trust in the rumours they heard, and he hoped, the royal guards would treat the rumour similar when they heard it and would dismiss it for wishful thinking.

He knew though that he shouldn't get his hopes up. There was always a chance that there'd been guards at the harbour in Shinganshina who had seen him take off and carried the news to the king. If that was the case he would soon be hunted for simply being alive. No commoner was allowed to wield the powers of the royals and live. If he ever was caught he would be killed on the spot, without so much as a trial where he could defend himself.

However, Eren was determined to outrun, maybe even outsmart them, at the very least until he had his key back. And as long as no one made the connection between him and the golden dragon, he would be safe anyway, he reasoned with himself.

-

Little did he know though, that the king had already learned of his existence and had sent out a large part of the royal army to hunt him down. The men followed the trail of the talks of dragon sightings along the coast line of the kingdom and in fact weren't too far behind. Two day's travel, to be exact. And they knew who to look for, too.

Everywhere they went, they looked for a young man with long brown hair with braids in it, golden eyes and wearing the commoner's wide clothing. So far, they had no luck finding him though, for no one had seen him, but they knew that the boy would have to refresh his provisions at some point. And then they would catch him and do their king's bidding. They were pretty confident that they would find him at some point, though. He couldn't stay hidden forever, after all. And a description like that didn't fit just anyone.

-

The _Maria_ had had the luck of good winds and the blessing of the gods, it seemed, for her journey had been swift and calm, the sea being kind to her crew. The crew secretly thought the captain was in favour with the god of the sea, but that wasn't true. Levi merely knew how to read the sky and clouds and waves and commandeered his ship around any storms on their way. Only when they spotted a ship of the royal navy they would change their course, sometimes heading out into wilder waters, but never risking being sucked into a full on storm.

Sometimes the seas they sailed in were as grey and rough as the eyes of their captain, sometimes they were of a cerulean blue that allowed them to see all the way down to the ground. They prided themselves in being the only crew that had seen every ocean, had braved every sea and every fight, and for all they knew, they were right, too. They were feared and whispered about in every city along the coastlines of many kingdoms and no other pirates dared to ever come close to the _Maria_ if they ever spotted her on the horizon.

Levi toyed with the key that hung on a leather cord around his neck, wondering again which treasure chest it might open one day. He had won it in a lousy Inn back in an even lousier town up north from a drunk guardsman who had promised him it would bring him riches beyond belief if he ever found the lock the key opened. Of course he knew it was a gamble and that he might never find the lock it belonged to, but he was a pirate and such gambles were part of his life. The key wasn't made from gold or anything, but from brass, and as such not really a common key. Most people made their keys from iron, sometimes they might gild it, like the royals did in their castles and palaces, so a brass key was a key that fell out of the norm. Which in turn meant that it would open an equally uncommon lock, if any. And Levi was determined to find that lock.

“Captain! Where to next?” Farlan's voice cut through Levi's musings and the man's eyes gazed at the horizon before he made a decision.

“To the next harbour. Our provisions are running low again, Isabel told me.”

“Aye, captain. -To the next harbour!” Farlan shouted Levi's order to the men and women of the crew and they set about following the order. Petra changed the course of the ship accordingly and Eld, Oluo, Nanaba and Gunther set the sails to catch the wind.

“Farlan.” Levi watched his first man oversee the change of course.

“Aye, captain?” the blond didn't move to look at him.

“We will hire new members for our crew. Anyone willing to work hard and risk their lives. You know the drill. We need more canon fodder. The royal navy has grown bolder as of late.”

Farlan nodded, “Of course. I will see to it.”

“Good.”

With that, Levi left the deck and retreated to his cabin. The cramped room just barely managed to fit his small cot, a dresser and his desk where he stored all the cards and maps of treasures hidden and found, tidbits of information about treasures and books about the seas they sailed upon.

-

Eren reached the town the day the ship he was after came to port. He had seen the ship the day before, still out on the sea, anchoring just out of sight from the coastline. He could have just flown over there, ran rampant on the ship or snatch their captain right off the deck if he would've been lucky enough and the man was actually on it, but he didn't. It wouldn't have done him any good, since he didn't know where he would've taken the captain, had he managed to catch him.

That, and by now he had learned that almost the entire royal army was after him, asking around for a young man fitting his description and the gold dragon's. So he had to disguise himself. He couldn't really hide his braids, but he wrapped them around his neck in an attempt to stop them from being noticed and maybe taken for a necklace instead. He also changed his wide clothes to tighter fitting ones and cut the rest of his hair so it just hung over his ears and eyes and tickled his neck. Speaking of his eyes, he couldn't do anything about them, and with his hair now too short to hide them, he had to try and not make eye-contact with too many people whenever he had to go into a city to find new provisions and hear the latest rumours about himself and the ship he was after.

It was through those rumours that he learned the ship he was after had made it to port to stock up on provisions and hire new members for their crew. Eren almost believed it was his lucky day, then, but nothing ever was so simple. Life had taught him that there was always something that could and would go wrong in the most crucial moments. That was why he didn't make any plans beside getting on the ship when he made his way to the pier where it anchored.

-

The new crew members proved to be a lazy lot, for all they seemed to do was chatter and laze about deck instead of working for their food and stay aboard the _Maria_. Levi decided he didn't like them, even though Farlan promised him that they would come around and Isabel even threatened to feed them with dry meat and fish for the rest of their days if they didn't start to earn their keep. Levi told her it wouldn't be necessary, unless he wanted a sick crew and no one to be able to work at all.

“Oh come on, Levi. They aren't all that bad. You make 'em worse than they are, really.” Farlan said when Levi once again complained about their meagre cleaning skills.

“They can't even clean the deck properly, Farlan. I doubt they can fight, let alone hold a sabre or shoot a gun. They're all still green behind the ears, the lot of them.”

“Well, even if that is true, they will learn it soon enough, don't you think?” Farlan grinned. Levi didn't need to ask to know that Farlan thought learning on the job was the best way to learn.

“Be that as it may, I want _Maria_ 's deck clean by the time the sun reaches its highest point.”

“That won't be until very long.”

“Well, get the lazy lot to work, then!”

Even from his small cabin, Levi could hear the groans and complaints of their newest additions and he smiled to himself. Farlan's regime was a harsh one, that much was true, but it was still nothing compared to his own. And the lot would learn that soon enough. No need to scare them away before he needed them.

Soon, weeks turned into months and the new crew members became used to life on the ship and under Levi's hard but fair rule. They even learned how to clean the ship properly. Of course they still groaned and complained about it, but they had all earned their stay on the _Maria_ , and Levi was not one to let them walk the plank if they didn't actually plan to stir up a mutiny.

Levi had learned their names and their back stories from the times the crew had sat together on one small island beach or another and told their life's stories by the campfire. Well, all but one's, that was. They all seemed willing to share and rum and liquor loosened their tongues. Just one of them always seemed to give vague answers to the simplest of questions and sometimes Levi thought the young man had an ulterior motive. He couldn't tell what it was, and whenever he actually asked Eren, the young man's face became an unreadable mask, before he shook his head and excused himself with a flimsy excuse.

“Why don't you want to share anything about your past with us, Eren?” Isabel asked one night, when they all sat around one such campfire, one arm slung over the brunette's shoulders.

“Because my life is none of your business.” he stated and Levi narrowed his eyes at him.

“It is. We need to know whether we'll have the royal army after us if they ever learn you are part of our crew.” Well, they were already after them, for reasons unknown to Levi, but they wouldn't want to give them another one.

Eren's golden eyes became hard. “They'll never learn about that, so where is the problem?”

“The problem, Eren, is that I can't tell whether or not you're going to be a liability at one point in time.” Levi growled, “If you don't want to share with all of us, fine, but you should tell me. I am your captain and I need to know such things.”

The crew had grown quiet at their exchange and silently looked from their captain to Eren and back again. Even in their drunk states they could tell that this was important.

None of them noticed Eren's pupils turn into slits when he glared right at Levi. If Levi noticed it, he didn't show any reaction though, he just stared right back at Eren.

“If I tell you, either of you, you will all be dead if the royal army ever finds out I sailed with you.” he then said, and for a moment, none of them understood what Eren meant by that.

“What-?” It was Farlan who voiced their disbelief.

“Why would the royal army actually be after you? Did you steal the crown jewels or something?” Isabel talked over him and shook Eren, her green eyes wide in amazement.

Eren shook his head.

“No, of course not!”

“Well, tell us, then. It can't be that bad.” Levi demanded. But Eren shook his head again.

“It's better you don't know, really.” he shook his head again, but then he seemed to think of something.

“Well, if you can guess it, though...” he trailed off, and it was obvious he thought they would never guess his tale.

And indeed, each and every guess they made was wrong. Well, some weren't too far off from the truth, but Eren only ever smiled and shook his head in denial. Until they eventually grew tired of the guessing game and eventually moved on to other, more rewarding topics. Only Levi kept his eyes on the young man, contemplating.

-

It was a few days later when Eren was on watch duty that the captain joined him late at night. Eren was leaning on the railing and looking over the calm waves lapping at _Maria's_ hull. He had heard someone walking up to him, but he didn't need to turn around to know it would be the captain. The sound his heeled shoes made on the planks made it obvious, since most of the crew was either barefooted or wore lighter shoes.

“You have a reason for being here, don't you?” he said, without any further ado falling back into the guessing game from a few nights ago.

Eren didn't feel the need to lie about that. He nodded. After all, he didn't have to tell him that he had, in fact, several reasons for being here. The first and foremost still was his key that hung around Levi's neck, and by now he actually thought he could get it back if he just asked and explained himself, but by doing so it would mean he didn't have a reason to stay any longer. And although he missed his friends and even the dingy alleys back in Shinganshina, he wanted to stay on the _Maria_ , to keep sailing over the seas with this ragtag crew and their captain, to see a new horizon every time he opened his eyes, to feel the wind in his hair and the sun on his skin.

That's why he didn't say anything.

“Well, at least I was right about something, then.” the captain huffed and Eren turned his head to offer a small smile to the man, who was now leaning beside him against the railing and watching him.

“Want to take another guess?”

Levi's eyes narrowed, then he turned his head and looked out over the dark sea.

“I have made plenty guesses already, just like the others did. How about you offer us a hint instead, Eren?” the man said instead.

Eren sighed, but the sound was swallowed by the sound of the waves and the wind.

“A hint? Well. I guess you really would die if the royal army ever found out I was on your ship and sailed with you. I'm actually surprised none of you have made the connections yet. Even though it's actually pretty obvious.” At least to him it was. But that may only be because he was the one the circumstances actually concerned. The crew might have only heard about the sightings of a dragon through rumours or maybe not at all, given how rarely they made it to ports. They had only anchored one time in a harbour since Eren had joined them over half a year ago.

“Why the bloody hell would the royal army be after a poor fellow like you?”

Eren shrugged. That was what his captain would have to find out. He could feel the man's eyes on him, but he didn't turn to look at him.

“Bloody hell, Eren. If I'm going to have the royal army after my ship don't you think I would need to know what I'm risking the whole crew for?” the captain tried to get him to talk.

Eren huffed. Of course he was right, and Eren didn't want to endanger the crew either, but at this point in time he really saw no point in telling, since the royal army didn't even know where he was right now and with some luck wouldn't ever find out.

“You'll find out eventually. And right now they don't even know I'm on your ship, so you're all as safe as one can be as pirates.” he gave a tight smile.

Levi frowned. It was obvious to Eren that his captain didn't like this at all.

-

The next time they made it to a harbour, Eren kept his ears and eyes open for any rumours regarding himself or the sightings of a dragon -of which there would be none- as well as the whereabouts of the royal army. He wandered the streets around the harbour district, chewing on an apple he had nicked from an unsuspecting vendor, when suddenly someone bumped into him.

“Hey, watch it!” the burly man growled at Eren, who had stumbled a few steps before he caught his balance again.

His braids jingled, having loosened from being wrapped around his neck and his eyes narrowed at the man. Of course, he didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he hadn't been the one to run into someone.

“Watch it yourself! You ran into me just now, not the other way round!”

By now, a few people standing around where watching the small dispute and a murmur went through them when they recognized the young man with the braids as the one the royal army had been looking for. Sometimes a group of soldiers still came by their little city, asking around if someone might have seen him. And now he was here, standing right before them.

The man glared at Eren and he was about to give an angry retort but then he noticed the braids.

“You're the one the soldiers were asking about!” he exclaimed loudly, pointing at Eren.

The whispers all around grew louder and more people stopped and looked when they heard the man shout and point.

Eren grew uncomfortable and he knew he should get going. However, the people were closing in on him and the other man now and within seconds there was nowhere for him to turn to. The whispers were growing louder by the second and more and more people took notice of them. Soon, someone would alert the soldiers, Eren was sure. Whispers turned into harshly uttered words and then turned into thinly veiled shouts. No doubt some guards on patrol duty or even the soldiers would be arriving soon to see what this commotion was all about. And Eren really didn't want to be around the area if that was about to happen.

He frowned. His options were dwindling; the crew of the _Maria_ was scattered all throughout town and he had foregone the offer to stay with Isabel and Farlan while walking around, so none of them were likely to take note of this. He thought he could be able to just elbow his way through the gathered crowd, but where would he run to after? For sure guards and soldiers alike would be on the lookout for him for the rest of the day -and the harbour was always guarded- so he would have a hard time getting back on the ship.

Of course, he could always just use his powers and fly away, but that would leave him in a similar predicament. He couldn't just fly down to the harbour, land on the ship and shift back to his human self. Everyone would see, everyone would know where he had been hiding from the army for the last couple of months. And then they would be after the _Maria_ and her crew like bloodhounds.

Eren didn't like that thought at all. So what else could he do?

He frowned at the man in front of him. He could just fly along the coast until he was out of sight or maybe until he reached a secluded spot, but how would he get back to the ship then? The crew wouldn't know where he was and would probably wait here in town for him. Of course Eren knew that they couldn't stay too long, but he didn't doubt that they would wait for at least a day before they set sail again. And then they would most likely think he abandoned them or something happened to him, of which neither would be true.

However, to his stressed mind, that option still seemed to be the best since it wouldn't endanger the crew of the _Maria_ and nobody would have to know he was ever a part of them. And maybe he could just rejoin them later on, when they were out on the sea again.

-

Usually it wasn't like Levi to spy after one his crew members, but Eren had him intrigued. He was being so secretive with his past and the fact that he had told Levi that he and his crew would most likely be killed for sailing with him wasn't doing much to help ease his worries. So he was determined to find out everything he could about the guy while they were anchoring and stocking up on provisions.

He followed Eren in a small distance, watching and taking notice of every interaction he made with vendors and other people passing him by. He also overheard the conversations of the townspeople and caught wind of a few interesting rumours, one of which made him frown deeply.

It was about the royal army looking for a young man with shoulder length brown hair and beaded braids, wearing the wide commoner's clothing. Just hearing that made him think of Eren, even though the young man didn't fit the description entirely. He also heard about dragon sightings further up north and he wondered.

As far as he knew, the king hadn't sent out one of his dragon's in a long while. Some even doubted the line was still alive and Levi kind of hoped so, too. Dragons had always meant trouble. He had heard tales of what they could do and he wasn't exactly keen on finding that out for himself. Levi decided he would stay away from the northern shores of the kingdom for a while. He didn't want to chance running into that dragon.

It was barely noon when it happened. He saw Eren get bumped into by someone and within moments there was a commotion of people. And then Levi heard the murmurs going through the crowd. He made his way over, pushing through the mass of people so he could see what was going on.

Eren was standing with his back to him and Levi couldn't possibly say what the young man was thinking about. However, he could tell when Eren made a decision. He squared his shoulders and drew himself up a little higher.

And then he started to change.

Later Levi would say he wouldn't have believed it if he only had heard the story and hadn't been there to see it himself, but there he was, standing in the crowd when Eren changed into a huge, golden dragon. The people instinctively took a few steps back, giving him room. The dragon -no, Eren- stretched his wings, looked at the man in front of him, roared and then took off.

Stunned silence followed his departure and Levi wasn't too sure how long he stood there and just stared after the creature. He only knew the crowd had long dissembled when he could tear away his eyes from the horizon and made his way back to the ship. He needed to get his crew together. That they would depart sooner than planned would probably end in complaints from the crew, but he didn't care. They had to catch up to a dragon.

Levi grumbled. Eren would have quite a lot of explaining to do once he was with them again.

-

Eren flew for the rest of the day and well into the night before he dared to stop and rest in a secluded cove, far away from any settlements. He was exhausted and he knew he should probably try and find something to eat, but something told him that he wouldn't have any luck, unless he was willing to chew on seaweed. At least he was certain that he had gotten far enough away from the town so that any search-party wouldn't catch up to him tonight. Sure, one rider on a fast horse might be able to catch up to him, but he could deal with one lone rider if it really came down to it.

He looked for a fairly secluded spot to sleep at and found it in the form of a few coarse bushes. They wouldn't offer much protection against the salty winds coming from the open sea, but a little protection would still be better than none he decided when he crawled under them and tried to get comfortable. In the morning, he decided, he would fly out to the ocean and look for the _Maria_. Maybe they had left the harbour and resumed their planned course and he would be able to sneak on board somehow...

The next morning brought heavy rain and dark clouds were looming over the horizon Eren was woken by the feeling of his wet clothes clinging to his skin and heavy raindrops hitting his entire body. The bushes he had thought of being at least a little protective proved to be not protective at all. He was soaked through down to the very bones. Grumbling and muttering to himself he got up from his clammy bed, shook the sand out of his hair and looked out over the ocean.

He tried to decide whether it would be wise to fly out there into the storm and look for the ship. For all he knew they could still be anchoring in the city and be waiting for him and he would exhausting himself in the storm for naught. His rumbling stomach stopped his musings though, and he realized that he really should try and find something to eat, now that he could actually see something.

The little cove wasn't a place to find anything to eat though and the ocean proved to only offer an abundance of seaweed and empty shells. And there was no way out of the cove except for flying, so Eren would have to use his powers if he wanted to try his luck in the surrounding area. However, that at least meant that the army wouldn't have a way down either except for jumping. And they would likely end with broken bones if they did, even if they would land on the soft sand that covered the whole of the cove.

He found a good hunting ground in a near forest and managed to capture a small rabbit, which he didn't bother to change back into his human form to skin and cook the animal but instead swallowed whole in his dragon form. Now, of course one little rabbit wasn't enough to fill his stomach and he thought about trying to catch at least one or two more, but the weather grew worse by the minute and was threatening to become a full blown storm, so all the animals that might have been out and about otherwise where hiding away in their holes under the ground and in the trees and there was nothing left for Eren to do except fly back to the little cove and wait out the storm.

The day went by agonizingly slow and the only way Eren knew time was passing at all was because of the tides coming and going and the sky slowly turning darker. He had thought refuge under an overhanging edge of stone. It didn't provide him with much more shelter than the bushes he had slept under the night before, but it kept the salty winds at bay for the most part. He was freezing, and his clothes were soaked through, with no chance at all of getting dry if the rain wouldn't let up any time soon. It looked like it would keep raining well into the night though and Eren eventually fell into a fitful sleep, leant against the cold rock, knees drawn up to his body and chin resting atop.

-

Leaving the harbour had been difficult. With the dragon sighted flying right over the city and off to the south all the guards and soldiers were in an uproar. They wanted to go after the creature, eager to do their king's bidding in slaying the beast. However, they were stopped by the townspeople, asking questions and being concerned about their security: Would the dragon come back? Would the soldiers protect them from its wrath? Would they try to hunt it down and if they did, would they kill it? Could they by any chance get a few scales from the beast, once it was dead?

That, of course, delayed their departure; for which Levi was immensely grateful, since it would give Eren a considerable head-start. Unfortunately though, the captain of the city's guards had a good head on his shoulders and ordered that no ship may leave the harbour to go after the dragon. That meant that the crew of the _Maria_ was trapped in town unless they wanted to draw attention to them, and Levi didn't want that. He had enough to think about already, he didn't need the royal army to be after his ship, too.

So he waited until everyone was back on the ship and ordered them all under deck, where he planned to fill them in on what he had seen earlier that day and what he planned to do now.

“Listen, you lot. I'm sure all of you heard of the talk of a dragon being sighted by now. You may have even seen it when it flew over the city.”

Everyone nodded.

“Are we going to go after it, captain?” it was Farlan who asked the question, but everyone else looked just as eager to go for a dragon hunt.

Levi nodded. “We are.” Cheers and hollers erupted all around him and he had to raise his hand to get them to quiet down again.

“We're not going after it for the reason you might think, though. Haven't you noticed one of us is missing?” he pointed out with a raised brow when he had their attention again. They looked around, puzzled, until Petra gasped.

“Eren isn't here!”

A murmur went through the crew then and questions of where the young man might be at came up. Levi shook his head. His crew wasn't using their heads.

“Oh for god's sake, you lot are dense. Eren _is_ the dragon you all saw! Don't you see? Everything he told us so far makes sense now! So I swear to god if you don't keep quiet about this I _will_ let you walk the plank.”

“No way!”

“That bastard!”

Everyone seemed to be shocked, but they quickly agreed to keep quiet, at least for now. It was Isabel who asked the crucial question then. “So? What are we going to do now, big Bro? How do we find him? He could be anywhere!”

Levi nodded. “Well, he did fly south, but he knows the route we were planning to take. So if he plans to rejoin us at some point we should keep heading south-east along the coastline, too.”

“How are we going to get out of the harbour though? There's still guards patrolling everywhere. They won't let us leave if they notice us.” Farlan frowned.

“Simple. We'll cut the ropes and let the tide carry us out of here. We'll have to be quiet about it though and I suggest you better not get seen by the guards patrolling the pier. Nanaba, Oluo, I want you two to do that. Petra, you man the wheel. Eld, you're up in the crow's nest. No shouting though. If you have to tell us something, use the usual whistles.” Levi gave his orders.

“And what about the rest of us?” Isabel pouted. She wanted to be part of the manoeuvre too.

“You, my dear, will be responsible for the light. Douse every flame on the ship. That way, our departure hopefully won't be noticed to soon. Everyone else, wrap everything metal that may make any loud sounds in cloth or rags. I don't want any sound on this ship until we're out of here.”

Isabel grinned and clapped her hands in excitement. “Will do, captain!” And off she went, not waiting for any more orders. The others took that as their cue, too. There wasn't much time left until the tide set in and when they wanted to let it carry them out, they needed to get everything ready in time.

The preparations were made quickly and quietly and soon all they had to do was to wait for the tide to set in. The crew was talking in whispers to each other, wondering how it could be that Eren was a dragon. They didn't doubt what their captain had told them -not at all- but they still found it hard to believe. And why hadn't Eren ever told them anything? He should've known by now that he could trust them. Sure, this was a huge secret to be let in on and none of them doubted that Eren would have told them at some point, once he really felt comfortable enough with them, but they also couldn't help but feel a little bit hurt, knowing that Eren wasn't fully trusting them yet. They were all part of the same crew, sailing on the same ship and sharing close quarters. One would like to think that at some point, all secrets would be shared between all of them.

“Do you think he would have told us at all?” Petra whispered to Isabel when she came to douse the lantern hanging by the wheel. Isabel frowned.

“It's hard to say. I'd like to think he would have eventually, but in the end you can never say those things for sure.”

Petra nodded. Of course the redhead was right. “You're right. There's no point in worrying about it.”

Isabel agreed with a silent hum and left Petra alone again. The tide would set in soon and Petra would need to concentrate to steer the _Maria_ quietly through the harbour.

-

Eren was startled awake by loud shouts and the sounds of hooves trampling on the earth above him on the cliff. He was sure he hadn't been discovered yet, hidden under the rock like he was, but something must've gotten those riders into an uproar. There was no telling for him whether those were the soldiers that had been tasked with hunting him down or not. He didn't want to find out though and pressed even closer to the cold rock.

It was cold and windy, but at least the rain seemed to have stopped over night. Eren was still shivering and it took all he could do to stop his teeth from chattering. He wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to save some warmth but it was no use. The cold wind whipped all around him and stole all the warmth. In the end he went to sticking his hands under his armpits so he wouldn't freeze off his fingers and hoped those riders above would be gone soon. He needed food and drink and preferably a fire, too, but he doubted he would find any dry wood after yesterday's downpour. So he sat and waited until he could hear no more sounds from above the cliff and only long after he was sure the last of the voices faded did he dare to move from his spot.

He stretched his stiff limbs and looked up into the sky, trying to determine what time it might be. However, the sun was blocked out by thick clouds that wouldn't let any light shine through. He guessed it was around midday, though. Eren sighed and with another glance to the sky decided that he had stayed in this cove long enough. It was time to get a move on -those people from earlier might be coming back and he wanted to be long gone by then.

Shifting into the dragon took a lot of willpower and concentration, but he managed to do it. It was exhausting and his hungry state and cold body didn't exactly help matters, either. He decided that he would try hunting in the little forest he discovered the day before again, before he set out to the ocean and tried to find the _Maria_.

As luck would have it, Eren managed to catch two small rabbits, and although he was hungry and felt like he was starving, he didn't gobble them down immediately. Instead, he scratched some wood together with his claws and tried to get a fire going. Being a big fire-breathing dragon really did have its perks. It took a few tries since everything was still a little wet and clammy but after a while he had a nice little fire going and shifted back to his human form. He was lucky the fire didn't smoke too much, so hopefully no one would notice anything.

He quickly skinned the rabbits, thankful for the hours he had spent in the ship's kitchen, helping Isabel cooking and then managed to build a little contraption on which he could put the rabbits. If it weren't for those hours in the kitchen, he wouldn't have known how to do it. He didn't have any spices but at the moment all he cared about was getting some warm food into his rumbling stomach soon and not how it tasted. Anything would be better than raw meat.

When he was done eating and felt warm and content again, his clothes mostly dry and no longer clinging to his skin, he stomped out the fire and changed back into the golden dragon. The short flight back to the cove he had found shelter in was over soon, but Eren didn't stop then and set out onto the open sea instead.

-

Levi stood next to Petra while she steered the _Maria_ quietly though the harbour. The crew had made a good job of keeping quiet on their tasks and so far none of the guards patrolling the harbour had noticed their departure but he doubted it would stay like that for long. Eld was still up in the crow's nest and Levi listened for any whistles that might alert them of any danger. Despite everyone's expectations, they made it safely out into the open sea, without a soul noticing that they left. Only when they were well away from the coastline, they heard the faint sound of ringing alarm bells, telling them that only now the guards noticed their departure. The crew cheered and Levi allowed himself a small smile.

They sailed through the night and for most of the net day, even though the weather was horrible and they could hardly see the shoreline on the horizon. But Levi navigated them without fail through the storm to a save anchoring place. Everyone was soaked through to the bone and shivering and chattering with their teeth while they did their work, so they were happy when Levi told them to drop the anchor and get below deck to get warm. None of them wanted to catch a cold.

Levi himself stayed on deck though, looking out over the sea and the far away coastline. He wouldn't admit it out loud but a part of him hoped he would spot the gleaming golden dragon somewhere on the horizon. There were so many questions he wanted to ask Eren, things he wanted explained and needed to know, now more than ever before. Of course, a part of him even wondered if Eren hadn't been lying all along, not only keeping his nature a secret, but making up lies about his person, too. How would any of them ever know if he really was who he said he was? How could they be able to trust him when he didn't trust them? He heaved a sigh.

“What will we do with Eren, once we find him?” It was Farlan who asked that question. Levi hadn't heard him coming on deck, but he wasn't surprised. He had known Farlan would come seeking him out eventually, once he was away from the others, and he didn't mind. Maybe this conversation would help him get things sorted out.

“I mean, we don't know jackshit about him, he's never told us much, he could be a spy for all we know.”

“I doubt that.” Levi shook his head, “If he was, why spend over six months with us without ever trying to rat us out to the army?”

“Hell if I know! Why would someone like him willingly join our crew and become a pirate? There has to be a reason!”

“There certainly is, Farlan. He just hasn't told us yet.” Levi has never mentioned to his first mate the conversation he'd had with Eren that one night from a while ago. It wouldn't really change anything if he did tell Farlan what little he knew. It was enough that Farlan trusted his decisions.

“I take it you know something, then?” Levi nodded and Farlan huffed, crossing his arms.

“Well, then I hope for your sake that whatever his reasons are that they won't endanger any of us and that you won't regret the decisions you make.”

“You know I won't.” He never did. He knew that once he made a decision, he would have to live with it and deal with the consequences that decision might bring. It didn't bother him. Levi trusted his own judgement and his instincts; they had never led him wrong.

-

He was lucky the weather had cleared up some since the day before. It made flying over the open ocean that much easier. His wings caught every breeze of wind and he let himself be carried by the currents while he tried to spot any ships on the open sea.

Not that he was very lucky, though it seemed like there were none at all, like they were all hiding from his searching eyes. The only thing he saw were the rolling valleys of the waves, the ever-changing masses of water beneath him and the occasional bird passing by.

Eren flew for the majority of the day, mostly back the way he had come along the coastline. He hoped that, if Levi and his crew had by chance come after him, he would meet them somewherearound here. Only when the sun began to set id he turn back to the coast, intend on finding a secluded, save place where he could spend the night at. He knew he was closer to the town he had fled from, so the possibility of being found by a group of soldiers searching for him was higher, which was why he needed to be extra careful not to be seen.

It would take him several days and as many close calls with the search parties following him before he finally spotted the _Maria_ on the horizon. The ship was sailing on a slight breeze, the sails billowing with it and even from as far away as he was Eren could see the crew bustling around on deck. They didn't seem to have spotted him yet but he figured that would change before long.

During the last days he'd had enough time to think about what he was going to tell them and had decided that his answers would depend on how they would react to him and what they already knew if after that they wanted him gone, he would leave, of course. Though he would take his key with him then. He hoped he could stay, however. He had come to sincerely like this motley crew and their somewhat stoic yet strangely caring captain. Not to mention that he would miss Isabel's cooking. Once he would be back to the dingy alleys of Shinganshina he would be back to stealing most of his food; probably even going a few days without any at all.

So it was with slow yet determined thrusts of his wings that he neared the _Maria_ , warily eyeing the crew to see if they would possibly aim their weapons at him. He wouldn't have needed to worry, though. Once they spotted him, they broke into a loud cheer, waving to him, beckoning him to land on deck already.

Eren circled over the ship a few times, a silent rumble in his throat while he surveyed the assembled crew. When he dove down and landed right in front of Levi, everyone went quiet. Eren and Levi watched each other for a long few moments, before Eren blinked once with his large golden eyes and Levi gave a subtle nod of his head. Only then did Eren shift back to his human self, allowing scales and wings to retract into him. He ignored the murmur going through the crew, all of his attention still on the man in front of him.

“Eren.”

“Captain.” Eren decided against using Levi's name just then, not sure if he would still be allowed to, even though he apparently didn't have anything to fear from him and the crew for now.

Levi clucked his tongue and a small frown was apparent on his face.

“I take it this was the secret you were trying to keep from us?” he finally asked in an almost deadly calm voice that could have been threatening, hadn't Eren known already that this was just how Levi was. Eren knew this wouldn't be held against him, though. However, he was sure Levi -and the rest of the crew- would like to know if he would've eventually told them.

He nodded slowly. “Yes. I'd understand it if you want me to leave the crew now.” Levi shook his head, as well as the others did.

“Why would we want you to leave, Eren? Are you nuts?! You're a dragon! _A dragon_ , Eren! Having you on our side sure would boost our reputation!” Isabel grinned from ear to ear, hopping on her feet in excitement.

Eren shook his head at her words. “It would also mean the royal army would be after all of you, should they ever learn I'm on the _Maria_. After all, my abilities are usually reserved for the aristocracy and the king's family. Royals and lords and ladies of worthy status. Not some lousy street rat like me.” he explained and Isabel pouted. She looked to Levi and Farlan, seeking help.

“You already said that. And I still kept you around, didn't I?” Levi again.

Eren remembered the conversation he'd had with the other man that one night and had to nod, agreeing. “You did. So that means... I can stay?” the question was asked rather hesitantly and was barely more than a whisper, but everyone heard it anyway.

They all nodded, and Petra and Isabel came up to him, hugging him and telling him how worried they had been about him. He was also told about how they had sneaked out of the locked-down harbour and how they had been sailing up and down the coastline in order to find him -hopefully before the search parties of the army did. Eren noticed how the captain held back, leaving the rest of the crew to catch him up on everything that had happened during the days he had been gone. Once they were done and Eren had been granted an extra meal by Isabel, everyone returned to their duties on the ship, including Eren.

He was checking _Maria's_ equipment when Levi came walking up to him. “Walk with me, Eren.” he ordered. The brunette made sure everything was in place and followed after the captain who already stood waiting at the door that lead under deck and to his captain's cabin. Eren bit his lip. He had been in there only once or twice before and neither moment held particularly fond memories for him. So of course he was rightfully wary of it now. Nevertheless he still followed the captain inside and sat down on one of the chairs in the room when prompted. Levi took the other one, folded his arms over his chest and just watched Eren for a few minutes until the brunette began squirming uncomfortably. Only then did Levi open his mouth to talk.

“Now, Eren, tell me everything.” His tone of voice told Eren that the man wouldn't allow for any excuses or attempts to cut the story short or even let himself be lied to.

So he took a deep, calming breath and began his tale.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I know this was a long part, but I hope you enjoyed the long read. 
> 
>  
> 
> I'll be updating [Your soul on my Skin](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5116253/chapters/11770262#main) later today/tonight at the usual time of 10pm CET :)
> 
> Aside from that, anyone who wants to chat or talk ereri AUs or chat in general is welcome to drop by on [my tumblr](http://ladycarathis.tumblr.com) x3


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